The phenomenology of traumatic experiences in police work

Investigates situations that were perceived as stressful by Swedish police officers and the kind of support and help they had received in connection with that. A total of 162 respondents took part in the study. Results show that most of the traumatic experiences reported by police officers occurred early on in their careers. The traumatic experiences often remained in their memories in the form of visual, tactile, and olfactory sensations. A variety of stress reactions were described in connection with these experiences. As regards ways of working through the traumatic experiences, more than half reported that it helped them to talk about the event with their colleagues. Only a few had been offered debriefing or professional help in connection with the event. A notable finding is that the majority of the officers did not receive any support at all from their superiors in connection with the event.